DISTURBANCE OF BIRDS

Birds at a Southern California beach: seasonality, habitat use and disturbance by human activity

Southern Pacific Coast Regional Shorebird Plan

Birds and Humans

The following pictures illustrate how shorebirds tolerate human presence near the shoreline in a way they do not tolerate unleashed dogs (perceived as predators). Notice that even a jogger does not necessarily elicit fright and flight.

Click HERE to compare these photos of calm birds with those of the birds' reaction to unleashed dogs.

April 8, 2015

Late morning there were several birds feeding at the shoreline and in the lagoon outflow (egrets, surfbirds, Willets and a Whimbrel. A man walking near the birds, carefully, did not cause them to fly away.

Moments later, a dog owner came onto the beach and allowed her unleashed dog to chase all of the birds, up and down the shoreline and in the lagoon outflow.

April 5, 2015

People and egrets foraging at 23rd Ave. beach (4:45 pm). One dog present, on leash.

March 29, 2015

Walking by surfbirds at 2:30 pm at shoreline of Corcoran Lagoon Beach

February 2, 2015

At 3:25 pm, this surfer at the 32nd Avenue beach area this surfer just stopped and rested for a considerable time. Sensing no predation, the egret did not move away.

January 30, 2015

Surfers and birds co-exist

January 24, 2015

If people give some care to not disturbing birds, then it is possible to not increase stress on the birds by flushing them from their feeding or resting area, as shown in this 4:40 pm photograph.

January 16, 2015

Egrets and gulls apparently okay with surfer activity. Photos taken between 1:40 and 3:25 pm

January 14, 2015

11:30 am to 11:56 am This Snowy egret had been flushed by an unleashed dog thirty minutes earlier but is okay in the presence of a fisherman who took care around the bird, while enjoying his fishing.

3:45 pm All is well.

January 12, 2015

10:56 am Shorebirds stay put and do not take flight as surfer walks by several times.

January 11, 2015

Corcoran Lagoon Beach at 10:30 am. Birds not disturbed by human presence. The three birds to the right would have been long gone if there had been an unleashed dog charging around at ten times the distance this man is from the birds.

January 8, 2015

January 6, 2015

A jogger passes by without disturbing the egret, even on his return run.

January 5, 2015

Six Snowy egrets enjoyed the shoreline of Corcoran Lagoon Beach from 9:45 am to 10:33 am. They were not bothered by walkers, who carefully passed them. People and wildlife sharing the beach.

Bird Disturbance Documents

Birds at a Southern California beach: seasonality, habitat use and disturbance by human activity

"Birds that forage slowly or ineffectively may not build the requisite fat reserves that are especially important to stressed and depleted migrants who must rest and feed to successfully resume their migratory journey (Puttick 1979)."

"Pet activity, in particular, reduces shorebird abundance (Burger 1981; Klein 1993) and those birds that remain must spend more energy on vigilance and escape at the expense of foraging and rest (Pfister et al. 1992; Burger 1993; Burger 1994)."

"The sensitivity of shorebirds to dogs is illustrated by the observation that snowy plovers react at twice the distance to dogs that they do to pedestrians (Fahy and Woodhouse 1995; Lafferty 2001)."

"Leashing reduced both the probability that a dog disturbed birds (2 × 2 χ2 = 5.1, Fisher’s exact test, (1 tailed) P = 0.018) and the number of birds per disturbance (Table 4). However, only 7% of pets were leashed. About 9% of dogs chased birds during the brief observation period."

"Not surprisingly, dogs that chased birds were significantly more likely to disturb birds than were unleashed dogs that did not chase birds (2 × 2 χ2 = 41, P < 0.0001). Although dogs that chased birds disturbed a greater number of birds per event than unleashed dogs that did not chase, this difference was not statistically significant."

"Dogs disturbed birds disproportionate to their numbers due to the tendency for some dogs to chase birds and the possibility that some birds, such as snowy plovers, are more sensitive to dogs than humans (Lafferty 2001). The observation of 11 dogs to every 100 people was slightly less than the 15 dogs per 100 people observed at 13 Ventura County beaches (40 miles south of the study), where three beaches had over 30 dogs per 100 people (McCrary and Pierson 2000). Although the countywide leash law was posted at the main beach entrance, this law was not enforced, explaining the near absence of compliance by dog owners."

"Where birds and humans do overlap, reducing the frequency of high impact activity, such as unleashed pets, could also substantially reduce disturbance. Changing human behavior is likely to be a challenge, requiring sustained efforts of education, notification and enforcement."

"Programs should be developed to educate the public about shorebirds and their habitat needs, create sympathy for shorebirds, and provide guidance about what should and should not be done to help shorebirds. Efforts also should focus on generating interest among resource managers in shorebirds and their protection and advising them of the most up-to-date techniques for habitat restoration, enhancement, and management for shorebirds."

Page 14 - "Increase enforcement of dog leash laws on beaches used by nesting Snowy Plovers and other feeding and roosting shorebirds."

Page 21 - Priority education goals for the subregion are to: "Educate adults and children about the potential effect of their actions, or those of their pets, on nesting, feeding, or roosting shorebirds."

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